Our Writers
Storytellers
Are you an expert in a topic relevant to families with tweens and teens? Are you a parent who would like to share a first-person account of your experiences? We are open to articles of all kinds that may resonate with our readers! Teen and Tween writers are welcome too!
At this time we are not paying for content. But if we accept your article, we are happy to link to your business, book, or product.
Here are a few of the types of stories we are looking for:
- Local family-friendly activities tweens and teens will enjoy
- Roundups of camps, after school, and vacation day activities
- Resources on cheap and free extracurricular programs
- Volunteering and community service ideas for tweens and teens
- Expert advice on common issues for families of tweens and teens including:
- Therapy and counseling resources
- School and/or move transitions
- Independence: staying home alone, using public transportation, etc.
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Friends/Cliques/Bullying
- Sex and dating
- Politics
- Gun violence
- Self-Harm and suicide
- Mental Health including local resources
- Travel
- Diversity and inclusion
- Education and standardized testing
- Alternative family dynamics (stepfamilies, LGBTQP, etc.)
- Technology – phone use, social media, + gaming
- Health and self-care (for both parents and kids)
- Advice for parents in the “sandwich generation” and middle age
Send your stories to info@phillytweens.com
Write for Us
PhillyTweens is not just a place for parenting perspectives, but also for shared work from the viewpoint of tweens and teens themselves. We are happy to accept contributions from kids 8-18. To respect the privacy of children who may be sharing personal stories on sensitive subjects, we are also happy to publish pieces anonymously.
Topics which may be of interest for our young writers may include:
- Finding your tribe: discovering an activity, camp, school, or group where you have finally felt accepted for who you are
- How it feels to not get into your school/s of choice
- Why you decided to attend or not attend a certain school
- How it feels to experience a school lockdown
- Experiences with bullying or being bullied
- Experiences with gender, sexuality
- Loss of a friend or family member
- Experiencing changing family dynamics (divorce, remarriage, etc)
- Dealing with a move
- Dealing with drugs or alcohol and peer pressure
- Experiences with racism, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, or homophobia
- Anything else you’d like to share!
Email info@phillytweens.com and we will keep all correspondence confidential.
Margaretta Maguire
Margaretta Maguire is a high school student in the School District of Philadelphia. She has been involved in multiple extracurriculars in her school, including its newspaper, and enjoys being a part of its community. For inquiries, you can reach out to margarettamaguire@gmail.com.
Claire Tyburski
Claire Tyburski is an 18-year-old university student originating from State College, Pennsylvania. She relocated to Europe in August of 2021 to study at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. As a Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology major, Claire enjoys researching various cultures and communities across the globe in an attempt to expand her American mindset into an international one. Back on the American East coast resides Claire’s mother, father, older brother, and two dogs. Despite the distance between them, Claire keeps in touch with her family and home roots via FaceTime and through the highly-anticipated packages of American snacks they send to her Netherlands home. She looks forward to experiencing and documenting her life as an American expat in Amsterdam over the course of her time at University.
Penelope Bellerjeau
Penelope Bellejeau began acting at 7 years old and at age 9 she landed a tv show role playing a young Nicole Sherzinger. Penelope has also appeared in national commercials for several companies.
She is also very passionate about dancing. Penelope once danced with Nick Cannon for Nickelodeon’s Halo Awards.
A strong advocate in raising awareness, Penelope has more than 28k followers on social media. She uses this platform to raise awareness about bullying, loving who you are and helping those in need.
Penelope experienced bullying herself and it inspired her to create a small foundation/group called “Kids Helping Kids”, now “Teens helping Tweens”. She began her own t-shirt collection and charity events at the age of 8 to help her cope with the pressure of being teased. She decided to heal by helping others. Every year Penelope plans an event to help the homeless and children in shelters.